Help with Windows updates not installing - re Service Pack 1

[Neil2305]

Thanks - it is what we feared.
Questions:
How is a Repair install carried out? Would that remove existing files and programs?

Is it possible to upgrade to Windows 8?
If upgrading to Windows 8 would all files and programs remain safe and secure?

 

[Neil2305]

ps... The computer is really slow and freezes... would any of this be to do with "massive corruption in the COMPONENTS hive"
also... when my partner downloaded the System Update Readiness Tool it was cancelled it halfway as as it started installing updates and we didn't think that should be done. Could that cancelling have caused the "massive corruption in the COMPONENTS hive" to be apparent? wondering why you conclude that now?
Thanks for your help.

 

[NoelDP]

The CheckSUR tool appears as an update because it uses the Windows Update wrapper to enclose a myriad files. The files are ones which MS has found from its telemetry returns tend to be prone to corruption. The tool checks the filesystem and registry for the proper entries for all installed updates, and attempts to correct them where necessary, using files from its store.
It doesn't actually 'install' anything, merely attempting to repair errors.

The log produced is a running one - as errors are found, the log is created, and any correctives applied are also added to the log.
In your log, there are 200 Missing Deployment Key errors from SP1 files - and the log is very far from complete.
It's possible that the package uninstall that we ran earlier exposed problems that already existed but were hidden somehow - the registry confuses me every now and then, so I can't be sure!